The Great Rideshare Swap Challenge, Rides On!

The rideshare challenge continues! Our Atlanta General Manager, Sam, decided to give up his car for a month and only ride with Lyft. He's halfway through the experience and here's how it's going so far.

Day 17: My afternoon driver told me the story of a wild experience with a passenger that previous Saturday night. In his carefully chosen words: “Sometimes late night riders can be a bit louder and difficult to handle.” Hearing the story from the driver’s perspective made me reflect on the times I’ve taken a late night ride home where I conducted impromptu radio karaoke…might dial back my singing volume next time just in case.

Classic rides (new/total): 1/12

Line rides: 2/15

$ spend: $22.22/$228.59

Day 18: My AM driver Antonio just got back from living in Sao Paolo, Brazil and it was a bit funny to hear him talk about how one of the things he liked about Atlanta was how much better the traffic is here.

I was running late from my first AM meeting at a coffee shop to my second meeting at the office, and had originally planned to walk, but ended up taking my shortest Lyft ride yet – a half mile Line jaunt down the street. Luckily, it arrived in 4 minutes and got me to my meeting right on time. Sultaun didn’t seem to mind!

My PM Line ride was matched with a hostess at my favorite neighborhood Mexican restaurant. We joked about the 5PM kid crowd that descends on that place on most weekdays – my wife and I are exactly that crowd.

Classic rides (new/total): 1/13

Line rides: 2/17

$ spend: $20.95/$249.54

Day 19: This morning was exciting but a scary reminder of how quickly my kids are growing up – my daughter “graduated” from preschool. I worked from home in the morning, and then called a ride to her preschool. I’d forgotten to pick up flowers to congratulate her, so I assembled a hydrangea bouquet courtesy of my neighbor. Daryl, my driver bet me that my daughter would see right through my improv move and call me out on it – I was sure she wouldn’t, but knew my wife might rat me out. Daryl, if you’re reading, the idea worked – my daughter had no idea! But you were also right that my wife was not as pleased with my cleverness as I was.

Classic rides (new/total): 0/13

Line rides: 2/19

$ spend: $12.00/$261.54

Day 20: Somehow, another missed morning workout that I can’t blame on my kids. My driver had just signed up for Lyft a month ago, but was really excited about his experience so far. He used to drive semis, and saved up to buy two trucks of his own. He now grows that business with independent contractors, and is driving Lyft to fill the time in between.

It was a rainy afternoon, and my evening ride home was actually my wife and kids – back from their first full day out of school for the summer. Given that the weather looks wet and nasty for the weekend, we might be stuck in the house or scrambling for indoor activities – a far cry from last weekend’s gorgeous outdoor bike rides and concerts.

Classic rides (new/total): 1/14

Line rides: 0/19

$ spend: $8.75/$270.29

You can read more about Sam's journey here and here. Follow us on Twitter and share your Lyft stories with us using #LyftATL.